From Library Journal
The recent upsurge of interest in klezmer music has spawned several impressive books. Seth Rogovoy's The Essential Klezmer and Mark Slobin's Fiddler on the Move: Exploring the Klezmer World are both valuable works, but Strom's entry is in many ways the most satisfying. A New Yorker who is himself a klezmer bandleader as well as the author of several books on Eastern European Jews and Gypsies, he presents a history of klezmer that is at once scholarly and personal. The historical accounting occupies four chapters: "From King David to Duvid the Klezmer," "From the Enlightenment to the Holocaust," "Klezmer in the New World, 1880-1960," and "From Zev to Zorn: The Masters of the Culture." The first appendix, "Klezmer Memories in the Memorial Books," is one of the most moving sections, featuring a collection of commentaries on klezmer music and musicians from hundreds of memorial books written by Holocaust survivors. The other two appendixes contain a useful glossary of klezmer slang and an annotated collection of a dozen representative tunes, culled from Strom's own field recording archives. Highly recommended for all collections.
Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book and Score Reviews
"A real treat . . . Mr. Strom is a real storyteller . . . the reading is fun, easy and it’s a quick read."
